What is my joiner plane made of?

[C.R. Miller]

The toe has a slightly European look to it, so it's likely to be made from hornbeam if that's the case.

However, if you can confirm that it is of English make then birch is a good candidate. It's definitely not beech or pear at any rate.

 

[tibi]

The toe has a slightly European look to it, so it's likely to be made from hornbeam if that's the case.

However, if you can confirm that it is of English make then birch is a good candidate. It's definitely not beech or pear at any rate.

I live in central Europe and we commonly use beech and hornbeam as firewood, because we have so many. I have a bought scrub plane from Pinie with a hornbeam sole, so I have laid it on its side and you can compare it with hornbeam side by side.

Also I have stripped the handle of the varnish. What do you think the handle is made of? Is it cherry? I have not seen yet 50+ year old cherry, so I do not know how much it darkens with age. I will do some more work on the plane, as the cleaning process is not yet finished. The front is cracked and repaired with some nails, so I will probably leave it as it is, just I will fill in the crack.

 

[Droogs]

It could well be pear. Stavros Gakos has just released a video of an infill mallet he made this week and has a big chunk of pear. try comparing yours to that

 

[tibi]

It could well be pear. Stavros Gakos has just released a video of an infill mallet he made this week and has a big chunk of pear. try comparing yours to that

Pear was my second guess, as i have just seen this video a few days ago

 

[C.R. Miller]

Now that I see the handle it definitely looks like a European style plane - similar to the ECE Primus planes. Hard to say what the wood for the handle is, but pear is a possibility.